My thesis - through a history of the Budapest building managers - asks to what degree agency mattered amongst a group of ordinary Hungarians, who are commonly perceived as bystanders to Holocaust? I analyse the building managers' wartime acts in the lights of their decades-long struggle for a higher salary, social appreciation and their aspiration to authority. Instead of focusing on solely the usual pre-war antisemitism, I take into consideration other factors from the interwar times, such as for instance the tipping culture. In my thesis I argue that the empowerment of the building managers happened as a side-effect of the anti-Jewish legislation. Thanks to their social networks and focal position, these people became intermediaries between the authorities and the Jewish Hungarian citizens, which gave them much wider latitude than other so-called bystanders. In other words, an average Budapest building manager could bridge the structural holes between the ghettoized Jewish Hungarians and other elements of 1944 Hungarian society as a result of his or her social network. My thesis draws heavily on the files of the Justificatory Committee [Igazolo Bizottsag] and the People's Court [Nepbirosag] , a unique set of sources collected in an immediate post-war denazifying procedure. The sources here I am working with have a dual nature: they shed light not only on the last phase of the Hungarian Holocaust, but also on the transition period of 1945-46. Thus, the last chapter explores the social judgement over the building managers' wartime conduct, while it also gives insight into their individual and collective efforts to defend themselves against the accusations. This thesis, therefore, argues that the actions of so called bystanders, and the relationship between Budapest building managers and Jewish Hungarians, can only be understood by placing them in a longer duree. Furthermore, it suggests that it is impossible - and unhelpful - to allocate building managers to a single category such as 'bystander'. Individual building managers both helped and hindered Jewish Hungarians, depending on circumstances, pre-existing relationships, and the particular point in time. In the fast-changing, fluid and complex environment of Budapest in 1944, categories such as 'perpetrator', 'bystander' and 'rescuer' were blurred and difficult to distinguish. Through an examination of this environment at the micro-level of the apartment building, this thesis brings the complexity of the Holocaust sharply into focus

Hungary's political transformation of 1989 has been generally regarded as a peaceful revolution negotiated between the ruling Communists and the opposition. During the National Roundtable Negotiations, the fundamental framework of governance - including the amendment of the Constitution - was decided by members of Hungary's political elite. Hungary's mode of transition to democracy was an elite-led transformation and this was distinct from Czechoslovakia and Poland where the interests of society had been represented - to a large degree - by the likes of Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa. In view of this, some critics argued that compared to Poland and Czechoslovakia, Hungary had no equivalent high-profile figure who could break with the Communist past and claim the ideas of a new democracy. Hungary, however, had its own figure with democratic credentials. Árpád Göncz, who came to prominence during the inter-war period has been one time or another, a student resistance leader during Nazi occupation in Hungary, a steelworker, an agriculturalist, a literary translator and, he subsequently became the first post-Communist President of Hungary. He experienced the major events of Hungarian history first hand, including the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. During this pivotal time, Göncz undertook a significant role in the resistance that followed the suppression of the Revolution; he was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result. His democratic activities were widely acknowledged by political elites and the general public alike. This, in turn, contributed to his election to the Presidency. Significantly, however, much of the existing literature on Hungary's post-Soviet political development has not attached a high degree of importance to Göncz's role in Hungarian history or his political achievements. At present, there are no biographies of Göncz either in English or Hungarian. Thus this thesis, as the first English language scholarly biography, addresses a gap in the literature through the narration of the story of Göncz's life; an expansive account of Göncz's life is situated within a framework of the wider historical, political and social concerns of his generation. Specifically, the following questions are addressed: how were Göncz's political beliefs developed and how did these beliefs later inform his term as the first post-Communist President of Hungary? Narrative analysis and elite interviewing are employed as the main research methods in order to explore the development of Göncz's political beliefs and their significance for the understanding of Hungarian politics. It is argued that as a whole, Göncz made important contributions to the development of Hungarian democracy. Though not born into a political family and constrained by external forces beyond his control, Göncz attempted to address some of the key social and political problems of the age. It is also argued that the decade of Göncz's Presidency was crucial for the shaping of the basic institutional tenets of governance in post-Soviet Hungary. Despite his lack of experience of governance, Göncz created a template for the role of President and significantly affected the demarcation of powers between president and government in the ever-evolving context of the process of political transformation. While his interpretation of the presidential powers and responsibility was not, and could not be regarded as positive in all respects, Göncz's Presidency was imbuded by his liberal and democratic values.

This thesis is a narrative and analytical history of the Hungarian air service. It follows its development from the Allied intervention of 1919 through the end of the Second World War. Denied an air force by the Treaty of Trianon, Hungarian airmen determined to thwart the inspection system and preserve national air power. The prohibition against military aviation persisted after the Commission was withdrawn, and through Hungarian diplomatic efforts, a relationship was established with Italy that included substantial assistance to the clandestine Hungarian air service. This low-grade arms build-up continued through the 1930s, during which there was a robust discussion about air power theory and the nature of future aerial warfare in Magyar Katonai Szemle [Hungarian Military Review]. After the rise of Hitler, Germany offered arms credits and support for Hungary’s obsession with regaining the territory lost in the post-war settlement. The air service grew mainly through imported aeroplanes, the purchase of which ceased to be secret after the Little Entente recognised Hungary’s equality of arms. The Hungarian air force became independent in 1939, and enjoyed public acclaim after decisive air-to-air victories over Slovak pilots during the occupation of Upper Hungary. The General Staff never accepted its autonomy, however, and succeeded in reclaiming control of the air force in 1941. After Hungary joined the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, the air force provided air defence and interdiction in support of the Rapid Corps. Its mounting losses were made good by German aeroplanes, some of which were produced in Hungarian factories. As the Allied bombing campaign against Hungary intensified in 1944, most of its aircraft were devoted to homeland defence. The force ceased to exist as a true national service after the German-led coup in October 1944, but continued a fighting withdrawal to the west until captured by American forces.

Cette thèse retrace l’évolution des rapports entre le pouvoir communiste, l’institution ecclésiastique et les laïcs catholiques en Hongrie, de l’arrivée de l’Armée rouge, à la fin de l’année 1944, jusqu’à la signature de l’Accord partiel entre le Saint-Siège et le gouvernement hongrois, le 15 septembre 1964. Elle retrace le processus au terme duquel la domination communiste a été profondément intériorisée, aussi bien par les membres du clergé que par les fidèles eux-mêmes. Elle cherche aussi à comprendre de quelle manière cette domination a pu influer sur l’évolution de la vie ecclésiale et religieuse. Elle vise enfin à reconstituer la dynamique politique qui a porté cette volonté de domination, et la manière dont elle s’est transformée, notamment après le choc de la révolution de 1956. La thèse s’appuie sur un large corpus de sources inédites ou publiées, issues aussi bien de l’appareil de l’Etat-Parti (police politique, Bureau des Affaires ecclésiastiques, département de l’agit-prop du Parti) que de celui de l’Eglise (archives épiscopales, des ordres religieux ou des paroisses), corpus complété par des témoignages et des archives orales, produits avant comme après la chute du régime communiste. La thèse est divisée en trois grandes parties chronologiques : les années d’après-guerre, de 1944 à 1948 ; les années staliniennes, de 1948 à 1956 ; les premières années du kadarisme, de 1956 à 1964. A ce découpage chronologique se superpose une structure qui distingue les trois points de vue étudiés dans la thèse : celui de l’appareil communiste, celui de l’institution ecclésiastique et de la société cléricale, et enfin celui des laïcs. / This thesis reconstructs the development of relations among the Communist regime, the Church, and the Catholic laity in Hungary, from the arrival of the Red Army at the end of 1944 through the signing of the Partial Agreement between the Holy See and the Hungarian government on 15 September 1964. The thesis takes as its task the reconstruction of a process under whose auspices Communist domination was deeply internalized, as much by members of the clergy as by the faithful themselves. It seeks also to understand the manner in which that domination was able to shape the development of ecclesiastical and religious life. Finally, it aims to reconstruct the political dynamics that brought about this bid for domination and the manner in which that bid was subsequently transformed, particularly following the shock of the Revolution of 1956. The thesis is based on a large body of unpublished and published sources, hailing from the Party-State apparatus (political police, Office of Ecclesiastical Affairs, the Party agit-prop department) as well as the Church (collections of the Episcopate, religious orders, and parishes), supplemented by oral history testimony gathered both before and after the fall of the Communist regime.